Food data to go

We know from past hackathon events that the attendees are a talented hive of production and we want to help you to make more honey. At the Food Standards Agency, we have a healthy appetite for openness. This is because we’re an independent government department with no specific minister. It means openness and transparency are in our DNA.

We publish open data about food.

So let’s cook

We’re excited to be part of the Open Data Camp and have a series of digital offerings to serve up. If you’re into making stuff, we’re keen for you bring your experience to the table and use our data to make a new innovative application and that can include social media.

Below are details of our main datasets and some examples of where to find existing applications. These might inspire you.

UK food hygiene ratings API (JSON and XML format)

About the geo-coded data

The food hygiene ratings given to restaurants, pubs, cafés, takeaways, hotels and other places consumers eat, as well as supermarkets and other food shops. A food business’s rating reflects the standards of food hygiene found on the date of inspection or visit by the local authority.

Get data

Our API 2.0, which includes calls to the server, can query and return data (not the whole dataset though):

Examples

There are a number of app outlets offering hygiene rating apps based on our data – have a search of Apple, Android, Windows, BlackBerry, for example. Also, there are a number of websites. Search for ‘food hygiene ratings’ to find these. Can you think of a potential social media application? For example, a Facebook check-in at a restaurant displays the restaurant’s rating on a map?

Allergy alerts and food alerts (RSS feed)

About allergy alerts

Peanuts, egg, milk, fish are some of the 14 major allergens and when allergy labelling is incorrect on a food product, or if there’s another food allergy risk, the food product has to be withdrawn from sale or recalled to protect consumers. Food allergic reactions range from mild to very serious. Most people are not allergic to all 14 allergens and we know affected individuals would benefit enormously if they could get alerts for the allergen that they are affected by, straight to their preferred social media feed.

Get allergy alerts

About food alerts

If there’s a problem with a food product (such as it contains pieces of metal or a nasty food bug) then that means it should not be sold and might be withdrawn (taken off the shelves) or recalled (customers are asked to return the product for a refund).

Get data

Example

Search web for ‘meat audit app’.

UK local authority enforcement data (CSV format)

About the data

If something goes wrong or the risks become too high, local authorities can take enforcement action against a food business – closure, seizure of food, a simple caution, or a prosecution, for example. Data showing food law enforcement action taken is available in CSV format for the past four years up to 2013/14.

Get it

Food and You survey

About data

This consumer survey is used to collect information about reported behaviours, attitudes and knowledge relating to food issues. It provides data on people’s reported food purchasing, storage, preparation, consumption and factors that may affect these, such as eating habits, influences on where respondents choose to eat out and experiences of food poisoning

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One thought on “Food data to go”

Very excited. Happy to answer any questions in advance here or tweet me at @drsiant. Hoping someone out there will ‘make’ for us and arranging a show and tell for all things food at the Food Standards Agency after the weekend. Look out for me if you are going 😉